[nagdu] Close call today

[Tami Kinney]

Oh, clever dog. Predicting ahead based on observations of a human driver
of a motor vehicle is a pretty amazing thing for a dog to be able to do.
That's when you realize what it's all about! /smile/

I've actually wondered about that with Mitzi in a few instances where
I've managed to pick up what it is she is responding to with intelligent
disobedience... Generally, I get the main clue when whatever it is I
would have walked in front of because it went really too fast someplace
it didn't belong whizzes by. Incredible. We've had enough of these close
calls by now that I can n o longer just pass of the notion that my
fluffy-headed poodle guide is correctly reading and accurately
predicting unexpected behavior in a motor vehicle somehow... According
to the conventional wisdom about dogs, this is not remotely possible. I
think conventional wisdom is just generally bunk, but I still am not
sure I believe it even when I see it... Then again, it seems natural to
me to begin to assume that since there are all these guide dog users
traveling safely around in similar places with traffic and erratic
drivers, these dogs of ours must have more on the ball than conventional
wisdom would allow. It's not as easy to notice for us, since we don't
always know exactly what they're responding to unless it makes a
noise. /smile/ 
So your trainer's observation is really fascinating, since he/she was
able to observe intelligently and see that that is precisely what your
newly trained guide dog was doing. Cool!

So every now and then I entertain myself by trying to figure out what is
happening in a canine brain to enable them to take something so human
and involving all sorts of mechanics and a lot of unpredictability that
a lot of humans can't reliably notice or respond to? But these wonder
dogs of ours consistently make right calls in those moments when our
senses and evaluation of environmental cues fail us... 

Guesses, anyone? Wild and crazy theories? /smile/

Tami

On Sat, 2011-09-24 at 00:20 -0400, Julie Phillipson wrote: 
> Oh I had something like that happen while in training in April.  The first 
> day of my last week of training in the ACTION program I was crossing the 
> street and my dog stopped in the middle of the street.  Once we got to the 
> other side I asked my trainer what just happened.  My dog stopped because he 
> didn't know what this car was going to do, it didn't come to a stop at the 
> light yet.  It turns out the jerk was on his cell phone and not paying 
> attention.  I'm glad your dog did her job.
> 
> Julie Phillipson
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "marilyn" <t21114 at optonline.net>
> To: "nagdu" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2011 8:57 PM
> Subject: [nagdu] Close call today
> 
> 
> > Hi Everyone,
> > Today I was going to a meeting at the New York State Building. I went with 
> > my co director in her car. She had to make a phone call in the parking lot 
> > so I decided to walk to where two other co workers were standing waiting 
> > for us in the parking lot. I could here there voices so I kept telling 
> > Anna straight. All of a sudden I felt this car near me and heard someone 
> > yell You idiot get off your cell phone you almost hit her. My two co 
> > workers said they were ready to run to push me out of the way. Had Anna 
> > not been guiding me straight in the parking lot I would have been hit. I 
> > was just getting ready to tell her left to where my co workers were 
> > standing. I feel really blessed to have Anna guide me safely in our daily 
> > travels.
> > I just wish people driving would stop texting and talking on there cell 
> > phones.
> > Marilyn and Anna
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